May 9, 2009 — The Dodgers cemented their position as the Elmo Plaskett East Little League champions with a season-ending, come-from-behind, 11-10 victory over the Suns Friday night at the D.C. Canegata ballpark to the delight of their boisterous fans in the stands.
For the Dodgers it was a long climb to the top, as many of the players have been playing together from PeeWee ball and have gone through many lean years together, but in the end it made this title-winning season that much sweeter.
The Dodgers scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single off the bat of Armand Barrios, after the Suns failed to score in the top of the inning.
The Suns then exploded for six runs in the top of the second to take the lead, which they would hold on to until the bottom of the fifth. They scored six runs on two-run singles by Daren Stevens and Dante James, an RBI single by Christopher Joseph and a bases-loaded walk drawn by John Hardy. The Dodgers went down in order in the bottom of the inning and they trailed 6-1 after two completed innings of play.
The Suns were back on the attack in the top of the third when they scored two more runs on an RBI single by Jahkeibo Joseph and an unearned run to extend their lead to 8-1. The Dodgers answered with four runs in their half of the inning on a two-run single by Barrios and RBI singles by Romani Hansen and Jashaine Graham to cut into that seven-run lead and trail by just three runs.
The Dodgers were within one run of the lead at 8-7 after scoring two more runs in the bottom of the fourth after the Suns failed to score in the top of the inning. An RBI double by Hansen and an RBI single off the bat of Barrios accounted for the two Dodgers’ runs.
The Suns came up with two runs in the top of the fifth inning to give themselves a little breathing room with a 10-7 lead. They scored two runs on a long two-run home run off the bat of Stevens. The Dodgers rallied with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good at 11-10, yet only one of the four runs were earned and that was on an RBI single by Hansen.
The Dodgers then turned the ball over to their closer, the hard-throwing Hansen. After giving up a walk to the leadoff hitter, Hansen then struck out the next batter for the first out. The runner on first became the second out when he was thrown out attempting to advance to second base on a passed ball. With two out, Hansen then blew away the Suns’ Shahid Cobb for the final out of the game, picking up the save along the way.
Graham picked up the victory for the Dodgers with two innings of relief work with Hansen getting the save. Christopher Joseph got the loss for the Suns. Top hitters for the Dodger were Hansen, 4 for 4 with three RBIs, Barrios 3 for 4 with four RBIs, and Diondre Simmonds was 3 for 4. For the Suns, Steven was 2 for 3 with a home run and four RBIs, Hardy 2 for 3 with an RBI and Jahkeibo Joseph was 1 for 2 with one RBI.
